The Republican Party of Iowa has new leadership and I believe we are better and stronger because of it. There are plenty of folks still angry about Danny Carroll’s ouster, but despite what you might have heard from Tamara Scott and others, removing the chairman is hardly unprecedented …

Matt Strawn was essentially forced to resign following the 2012 caucus announcement fumble and the majority of the SCC wanted Ray Hoffman to leave when he resigned in 2008. The only difference is that Danny Carroll chose not to resign when presented with that option …

The Facebook Pharisees have proven what a bunch of hypocrites they are the past two weeks with their lies, smears and ridiculous conspiracy theories. Here are the facts: The SCC is made up of the hardest working grassroots organizers in the state. And they are Christian conservatives …

The new leadership team of Jeff Kaufmann and Cody Hoefert are pro-life, pro-marriage, Christian conservatives. Anyone who tells you otherwise is bearing false witness and violating the Ninth Commandment …

BTW, for the armchair quarterbacks who don’t get involved in the process, but just snipe from behind their keyboards, you really should stop claiming to represent the “grassroots”. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means …

The grassroots are the people who go out and put up yard signs, make phone calls, knock on doors and become delegates to their county, district and state conventions. They are the ones who attend their county central committee meetings and work to get Republicans elected. Because they know that without victories at the ballot box, none of your conservative principles advance …

The new SCC was given a mandate from the grassroots during the district conventions. And that mandate was for wholesale change. Congrats to the SCC who did not buckle to the Facebook Pharisees and their libelous smears …

Everyone who is still hyperventilating over what the SCC did should take 12 minutes and watch Jeff Kaufmann’sspeech to the committee. He very clearly and adamantly talks about standing up for the platform and fighting for the conservative principles we all hold dear, fighting the establishment that he’s supposedly part of, being called a “liberty” guy and more:

New Co-Chair Cody Hoefert set a goal of raising $300,000 over the next three months. For all those complaining that Danny Carroll didn’t have enough time, let’s see how the new regime does financially in the next three months and compare that to Chairman Carroll’s tenure …

Under the Carroll/Krishna leadership, RPI raised only $29,700 in May. More than $11,200 of that came from the RNC transferring money for the Victory effort. So they actually raised only $18,500,but spent more than $90,000 …

Raise your hand if you think a state party raising only $18,500 in one month, in an election year, is good … Raise your hand if you think spending $72,000 more than you raised shows good stewardship of the party’s finances …

I do think Danny Carroll handled his forced departure in a classy way. However, he could have made the transition a lot smoother had he agreed to step aside …

Here are the facts about why Saturday’s moves were necessary: The Iowa Democratic Party is miles ahead of RPI right now in every conceivable measure. They’re out in droves doorknocking on weekends. They’re raising plenty of money …

They have a communications team that is constantly bashing Republican candidates. They are far more prepared for this November than we are and there were no signs that was going to change with Danny Carroll in charge of the party …

As SCC member David Chung pointed out during the meeting, he had not seen or heard any coherent Get Out the Vote or fundraising strategies from Chairman Carroll. “Is Danny Carroll a good man? Absolutely…But there are many good men and women in our party who are not the right people to lead this party at this time” …

Exactly. Being the chairman of the state party is not about who is the nicest guy or who is the best Christian. My next door neighbor is a nice guy and a Christian. That does not make him qualified to be chairman of the state party …

Kaufmann, Hoefert and the rest of the SCC have some work to do to soothe over those who are upset with Danny Carroll’s ouster. They know that. And they realize the best way to do that is to advance conservative principles and elect Republicans. As Carroll said during the meeting, the party is a means to an end. If you want your principles advanced, you elect those that will advance them. For the first time in a long time, we have a state party that is committed to doing that …

So, the last remnants of the Big Liberty regime have been swept away. Good riddance. Danny Carroll wasn’t a part of Big Liberty but his chairmanship was a byproduct of that regime … It’s morning again in the Republican Party of Iowa.

That’s it for this week. Thanks for dropping by. Complacency is a state of mind that exists only in retrospective: it has to be shattered before being ascertained.

Photos by Dave Davidson, Prezography.com

About the Author

Kevin Hall

Kevin Hall brings almost two decades of journalistic experience to TheIowaRepublican. Starting in college as a radio broadcaster, Hall eventually became a television anchor/reporter for stations in North Carolina, Missouri, and Iowa. During the 2007 caucus cycle, Hall changed careers and joined the political realm. He was the northwest Iowa field director for Fred Thompson's presidential campaign. Hall helped Terry Branstad return to the governor's office by organizing southwest Iowa for Branstad's 2010 campaign. Hall serves as a reporter/columnist for TheIowaRepublican.com.